Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why there are unused beds at Castle Craig Hospital, given the number of people with alcohol problems on waiting lists for detoxification and rehabilitation treatment.

Mr Tom McCabe: It is for local alcohol and drug action teams to plan and commission services for people with alcohol problems in their areas. Decisions on the most appropriate treatment for individual patients are taken by local clinicians, taking account of the needs and circumstances of each patient.

Enterprise

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding granted to the Caledonian Cheese Company in Stranraer to install a new production line was granted subject to the agreement that the new line would be used wholly to produce certified organic products.

Ross Finnie: Three awards have been made to the Caledonian Cheese Company under the Processing & Marketing Grant Scheme for Lowland Scotland towards the provision of new facilities and processing equipment. No condition has been placed on these awards which would limit the creamery to produce only wholly certified organic products.

Enterprise

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Caledonian Cheese Company in Stranraer is meeting the terms of its marketing grant awarded by the Executive for a new production line.

Ross Finnie: Three awards have been made to the Caledonian Cheese Company under the Executive’s Agriculture Processing & Marketing Grant Scheme for Lowland Scotland towards the provision of new facilities and processing equipment. The conditions pertaining to these grants will remain in place over the grant control periods. The company has to date met all the conditions relating to the grants.

Fisheries

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints of creels being towed away by trawler fishermen have been made to the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency by creelers in Loch Fyne in the last two years.

Ross Finnie: The approximate number of complaints received by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency office in Campbeltown about gear conflict in Loch Fyne is:

  2002: 10

  2003: 7

  2004: 6

  It is difficult to attach an exact figure to the number of complaints received. Some representations may not relate to a specific incident, but rather reflect a general concern; some representations have been grouped together at the point of recording because they reflect a number of different calls about the same matter, or a repeated concern by the same person in a short space of time. On other occasions it is not clear whether a trawl or a creel fisherman has made the complaint..

Health

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on health as a percentage of GDP in Scotland in each year since 1990.

Malcolm Chisholm: Table 1 – Level of Public Health Expenditure as a % of GDP, 1990 to 2002

  

Year
Level of Public Health Expenditure as a % of GDP


1990
6.2


1991
6.6


1992
6.9


1993
6.8


1994
6.6


1995
6.5


1996
6.5


1997
6.3


1998
6.4


1999
6.7


2000
7.0


2001*
8.0


2002
8.2



  *Level of public health expenditure as % of GDP from 2001 onwards cannot be directly compared to % levels in previous years. This is due to the change from cash to resource accounting.

  The table shows only the levels of public health expenditure as a proportion of GDP in Scotland since 1990. The level of total health expenditure is unknown because the level of private health expenditure is not quantifiable.

Hospitals

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11226 by Susan Deacon on 30 March 2001, what the numbers of average available staffed beds for neuroscience specialties were for 2001, 2002 and 2003 and are for 2004, broken down by NHS board of treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: The average number of available staffed beds for neurosciences specialties, by NHS board of treatment, for the years 2001 to 2004, are given in the table.

  NHSScotland: Average Available Staffed Beds1 for Neurology And Neurosurgery Specialties; By NHS Board of Treatment. Years Ending 2001–04

  

NHS Board
2001
2002
2003
2004P


Grampian
38
38
38
37


Neurology
10
11
9
10


Neurosurgery
27
27
28
27


Greater Glasgow
116
115
119
121


Neurology
27
27
28
27


Neurosurgery
88
88
91
93


Lothian
67
67
63
57


Neurology
18
20
20
16


Neurosurgery
49
47
43
41


Tayside
36
34
35
34


Neurology
14
12
12
12


Neurosurgery
22
22
23
22


Scotland
257
254
254
248


Neurology
70
69
69
66


Neurosurgery
187
184
185
183



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  PProvisional.

  Note: Excludes beds in joint-user and contractual hospitals and the Royal Hospitals for Sick Children in Grampian, Greater Glasgow and Lothian.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are applied in the appointment of temporary judges.

Cathy Jamieson: All appointments are made by Scottish ministers on the recommendation of Scotland’s Senior Judge, the Lord President of the Court of Session. Holders of office as a temporary judge may only be appointed if they meet the qualification standard for appointment as a permanent judge.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many temporary judges have been made permanent judges in the last 10 years.

Cathy Jamieson: Of the current complement of 32 judges, four have held the office of temporary judge.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each temporary judge, giving their date and period of appointment.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is given in the following table:

  

Name
Date of First Appointment
Date of Expiry


Sheriff Principal E F Bowen QC
9 June 2000
2 July 2006


Roderick F Macdonald QC
16 July 2001
15 July 2005


Sheriff Principal R A Dunlop QC
4 February 2002
31 January 2005


Sheriff Principal C G B Nicholson QC
4 February 2002
31 January 2005


Sheriff A L Stewart QC
24 October 1996
31 December 2004


Sheriff Ian Peebles QC
June 2003
31 May 2006


David S Burns QC
2 September 2002
31 August 2005


Leonna J Dorian QC
2 September 2002
31 August 2005


James G Reid QC
2 September 2002
31 August 2005


Malcolm G Thomson QC
2 September 2002
31 August 2005


Colin J MacAulay QC
13 January 2003
31 December 2005


Sheriff Roger Craik QC
February 2004
31 January 2005


Sheriff Kevin Drummond QC
February 2004
31 January 2005


Sheriff Hugh Matthews QC
February 2004
31 January 2005


Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC
February 2004
31 January 2005


Sheriff Rita Rae QC
February 2004
31 January 2005


Sheriff Ian Simpson
February 2004
31 January 2005

NHS Waiting Times

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1932 by Malcolm Chisholm on 2 September 2003, what the most recent average waiting times are for first out-patient appointment with a neurology consultant following referral by a GP, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The number of first out-patient neurology appointments and the median waiting time for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of neurology, following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board area of residence, in the year ended 31 March 2004, is given in the table.

  As part of the Centre for Change and Innovation Outpatient Programme, I recently announced a £2.95 million neurology initiative aimed at reducing out-patient waiting times. This initiative will support delivery of our national maximum waiting time commitment that no patient will wait more than 26 weeks for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant, following referral by their GP, by the end of 2005.

  NHSScotland: Number of First Out-patient Appointments and Median Waiting Times1 for a First Outpatient Appointment with a Consultant in the Specialty of Neurology, Following Referral by a General Medical Practitioner, by NHS Board Area of Residence. Year Ended 31 March 2004P

  

NHS Board of Residence
Number of Appointments
Median Wait
(Days)


Argyll and Clyde
773
76 


Ayrshire and Arran
227
48 


Borders
239
103 


Dumfries and Galloway
38
111*


Fife
1,003
109 


Forth Valley
824
60 


Grampian
1,984
68 


Greater Glasgow
2,641
87 


Highland
324
108 


Lanarkshire
1,170
132 


Lothian
4,236
29 


Orkney
14
X


Shetland
25
173*


Tayside
1,045
97 


Western Isles
44
81*


Scotland
14,587
70 



  Source: ISDScotland, SMR00.

  X: not shown due to small numbers, less than 15 appointments.

  *Figures to be viewed with caution as derived from small numbers (more than 14 but less than 50 appointments).

  p Provisional.

  Note: Excludes patients with an Availability Status Code.

National Parks

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that Scottish Water’s investment programme in the Cairngorms National Park will not have an adverse impact on housing development.

Ross Finnie: Any investment proposed by Scottish Water within the Cairngorms National Park would be subject to the same planning controls as would apply to any other organisation intending to develop there. The Cairngorms National Park Authority also has call in powers on any planning application made in its area.

  The extent to which Scottish Water’s current investment programme is constraining development in any part of Scotland is an operational matter for Scottish Water. However, I launched on 20 July public consultations on Scottish Water’s next investment programme (Investing in Water Services 2006-2014) and future charging policies (Paying for Water Services 2006-2010). These consultations provide an important opportunity for all affected parties to make their views known on the future investment priorities and who should pay for them.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many education authorities have introduced multiple-use cards for school meal applications in secondary schools.

Euan Robson: This information is not collected centrally. In June 2004, the Executive published the annual school meal census report, the results of which indicated that 26% of mainstream schools in Scotland operated an anonymised system for free school meal receipt.

Scottish Deprivation Index

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the basic building block of the Scottish Deprivation Index will be assessed and when the assessment will be published.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 was published on 14 June 2004.

  The Index is based on the data zone geography and includes indicators from the following domains Current Income, Employment, Education, Skills and Training, Health, Housing and Geographic Access and Telecommunications.

Scottish Executive Departments

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed by it, and what the total expenditure was, on communications in each of the last five years, broken down into (a) information and communications technology staff, (b) press officers, (c) special advisers and (d) others and what the estimated equivalent figures are for 2004-05.

Mr Andy Kerr: We do not break expenditure down into a communications heading. In the last five years the costs of staff in our Communications and Information Services Division and Press Office, Media and Communications are:

  

 
Communications and Information Services
(£000)
Press Office, Media and Communications
(£000)


1999-2000
6,985
1,870


2000-01
7,431
2,291


2001-02
8,606
3,108


2002-03
9,438
3,726


2003-04
8,258
4.127



  In 2004-05 the estimated figures are 9,456 and 4,099.

  The number of staff in Communications and Information Services, and Press and Publicity are:

  

As at 1 April for each year
Communications and Information Services
Press and Publicity
Special Advisors


1999
175
43
3


2000
275
51
10


2001
227
52
14


2002
251
66
8


2003
281
84
8


2004
288
89
11



  The figures provided for staff numbers and costs in relation to Information and Communication Technology are for the Communications and Information Services Division of the Scottish Executive. The range of functions and activities supported by this Division has changed over the period in question. However, the key functions of this area currently include: internal ICT system development and support; internal ICT project planning and implementation; internal ICT application development and support; ICT security for the Executive's internal systems; support for the Executive's telephony network; radio spectrum management and emergency systems; library, information and records management advisory and support services for the Executive and its agencies; the Executive's central enquiry team; development and support services for the Executive's website, and administration and financial management support services for the division.

Wildlife

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive answers to the questions raised in the letter of 9 June 2004 from the Minister for Environment and Rural Development to the chairman of the Deer Commission for Scotland regarding the events involving deer at Glenfeshie and Strathglass.

Ross Finnie: The Chairman of the Deer Commission for Scotland wrote to me with the commission’s response on 16 July. A copy of the letter has been placed on the commission’s website for public perusal.

Wildlife

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of all costs associated with the Deer Commission for Scotland’s cull of red deer at Glenfeshie.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for Deer Commission Scotland as an executive non-departmental public body. I have asked the commission to reply direct.